The firm of Schimmel was founded by Wilhelm Schimmel Sr. (1854-1946) near Leipzig in 1885. It began as a small workshop but the workshop grew in reputation quickly, allowing for a factory to be built in Leipzig in 1891 and a second one in 1897. By the start of WWI, the company had built ten thousand pianos. In 1827 the firm was taken over by Wilhelm Arno Schimmel (1898-1961), and two years later the firm moved from Leipzig to Braunschweig. By 1960 the company had built 50,000 pianos and became well known for incorporating modern design into their pianos. A year later the firm was taken over by Nikolaus Schimmel, the third generation of the Schimmel dynasty. The Schimmel family still runs the company today, despite Yamaha owning 25% share of the company.
Literature References:
Palmieri, R. and Palmieri, M., 2003. Encyclopedia of Keyboard Instruments. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, p.346.